Pegalysium
by Workman743
Summary: A botched trade with foreign pegasi leads to Rainbow Dash's capture and spiriting away to the floating nation of Pegalysium, but this is only a catalyst for a series of chain events endangering not only Dash, but also the whole of Equestria.
1. The Floating Nation

**Here it is, my debut story. Be sure to criticize if I have it coming. Plot holes? tell me. Flanderization? tell me. Character derailment? tell me. Narration stale and dry like saltine crackers? you know what to do.**

**EDIT: Realized what I was doing wrong. Anonymous reviews are allowed now. Please Review.**

**EDIT 2: In case you checked the reviews before reading this, Chapter 1 is NOT posted twice, It was for a day by accident, but I fixed it.**

**EDIT 3: I'd like to be on Equestria Daily someday. So now I need to go through and make the chapters... Not suck. Old readers will notice things have changed.**

**Note: Over the course of this story, and hopefully future ones, I am going to completely annihilate any sort of canon geography for Equestria and the world it inhabits at large. For example, other countries besides Equestria ****  
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It has always been assumed there were lands beyond Equestria in the world. It would certainly be a small world if that was all there ever was, almost pointlessly small. There was no fear in exploring the whatever lands lie beyond the un-drawn borders, it was simply that no pony had ever been given reason enough to tread beyond the idealistic land of Equestria. Curiosity is a powerful thing, but who wanted to put in the time, effort, and bits it would take to document new ground? An imperialistic group of pegasi on the other hoof was _very _interested in the world beyond their home. As they looked on with opportunism in their hearts, they saw only gain. After all, what could possibly pose a threat to them?

Rainbow Dash yawned and stretched her wings and legs as she stirred in her bed, cumulus made the greatest down. It was an overcast day, so she had her work cut out for her. Still, she was always up for a bit of exercise. The usual hustle and bustle was muffled as it pushed through the dense blanket of cloud. A swift buck provided a panorama of the square's activity. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were standing in the center, practicing their "heroic" poses; maybe later she'd give them some pointers. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were arguing over who got to set up shop in a particularly busy part of town; they'd get over it and be selling candied apples together by lunch. Twilight was penning down notes in the shade of her tree, surrounded by texts and scrolls, whilst Spike brought her reference materials on demand. But there was somepony who stood out. This one was not often seen walking about the square, and what's more was her frantic pace.

The Mayor of Ponyville meandered her way through the crowd followed closely behind by a large wooden cart, a cart full to bursting with a variety of items, (mostly foodstuffs) on a beeline for the edge of town. The mayor almost never left the town unless on important business, such as the occasional meeting with another Equestrian delegate, and even then her departure was announced ahead of time. But no such announcements had been made, and that was very interesting. Against her better nature, Rainbow followed overhead watching as they went farther and farther away, treading out of the city limits and straddling the Everfree Forest, of all places. Then, miles away from where any other pony could see, they stopped the cart and waited. Rainbow Dash glided softly to the ground a short distance away, and took to a nearby push to watch what was about to happen. They were meeting somepony here, that much was certain. But the purpose of this meeting and why it was kept so discreet were a mystery. Who could only be met on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest? Who would want to conduct trade with such an unpleasant place as a backdrop? Did it make bartering easier?

After what felt like hours to the young pegasus, Rainbow spotted two other pegasi flying overhead followed by their own cart, however she had never seen a cart like this before, it seemed to be made out of cloud, but she didn't know how it kept its shape and was able to support the weight of what must have been a couple dozen pounds. True, thousands of pegasi could crowd Cloudsdale's stadium, but that was only because the innate magic of the pegasi gave them a state of near weightlessness on clouds. The Pegasi pulling the cart were both a light golden color. One was lighter than the other, a few hues shy of white. They were adorned in bright orange armor, the color of which could only be described as the shade of orange at the very end of a sunset. They held themselves with an air of grace and confidence, that alluded to the royal guard as they looked down at the mayor and her entourage. Despite their best efforts anypony studying them for but a moment could see it was feigned, and in fact there true feelings were that of discomfort. Both of them then unhooked themselves from the cloud like cart, which floated down softly down to the earth, without so much as a rattle.

Their cart, in contrast with the fruits and vegetables of the Mayors, was filled with various curios and furniture. Lamps, bells, pillows, what appeared to be a folding table, among other things. Even from a distance Dash could make out small intricacies within each piece.

"Have you brought the supplies agreed upon?" the lighter pegasi, maintaining a faux superiority.

"Yes." The Mayor hastily replied, with perhaps a twinge of fear in her voice.

"Right then, you may begin the exchange." The darker pegasi said, motioning with his front hoof from one cart to the other and back.

"May!" Rainbow Dash said to herself as the ponies went to begin switching the traded supplies from one cart to another, the pegasi not lifting so much as a hoof in assistance. While the lighter one was content to simply hover and observe, the other mouthed to himself, counting. When he was done an expression of suspicion worked its way onto his face, and he suddenly yelled.

"Stop, _Stop!"_ The ponies instantly ceased their actions, dropping what they were carrying and awaiting further orders.

The dark pegasi flew down to meet the Mayor's face, being _very_ careful not to touch the ground for some reason.

His face was angry as he said, "This is not _nearly _enough, explain yourself, you're holding back."

The mayor replied, "Th- This is all we could spare from our stores until the next crop comes in soon. What more can w-." The mayor was interrupted as the brash pegasi struck her upside her head with the back of his hoof.

"Worthless. _Worthless _little dirtcrawlers. Barely willing to hunker down, spare a morsel from your children's selfish maws to provide for your betters! And such behavior,_ after_ our gracious invitation of mutual trade? We should be collecting this asking nothing in return, as _tribute, _but wiser pegasi than I decided it was better to trade. And you go and repay there kindness with this. this... Pittance!"

Now, Dash hardly knew the Mayor, case in point the only means of address she had for her, than anypony had for her, was the ubiquitous title of "Mayor". But she did not at all approve of violence against somepony who obviously didn't deserve it, whether it was against one of her best friends or a perfect stranger. As the pegasi readied himself to strike at the mayor again, Rainbow Dash could watch no longer.

She burst out of the bush shouting."Hey, leave her alone, she didnt do _anything_ to you." The pegasi looked at her not with the rage he had wielded against the mayor, but instead with confusion, perhaps a hint of horror, as well. Rainbow Dash was knocked off her guard, this was clearly the last reaction she was expecting.

The darker pegasi shuddered, "Is-Is she?"

The lighter pegasi flew up to her and said in a deadly serious tone, "You! You are... You're coming with _us_" Still momentarily stunned, she didn't grasp the meaning of this threat until it was too late. the clang of metal coming from behind her knocked her out of he stupor. The dark pegasi had placed some sort of cruel harness around her midsection, constricting her wings from moving as they were pressed shut against her. She fought against the harsh device, it was _tight,_ it felt as though she had been strapped with a bear trap.

"What is this? Get it offa' me! It hurts like crazy!" She demanded as the pegasi grabbed her by her find hooves and lifted her off the ground.

"You have no right to complain. This isn't even close to what you deserve!" The dark pegasi replied in a gruff, but restrained tone, as if he had been personally offended by the her but was holding himself back.

The Mayor raised a hoof in protest. "Wait! Please, don't take Rainbow Dash; she is one of the most valuable members of our community, a dedicated loyal worker, and a local icon! Take the food, take your own possessions back with you as well, just leave Rainbow Dash here."

The light pegasi said maliciously "Now there's an offer I can get behind, We'll take it. _And _we'll take your "Rainbow Dash" as well."

The dark pegasi blurted in, "Hold on a minute... You _know_ this pegasi? What's more, you say she's a 'valued member' of your community? Should have just stayed quiet and let us work, harboring Rogue-borns is a serious crime back in Pegalysium... How many others are you holding out on us?" Rainbow Dash was kicking furiously to escape, bringing the pegasi's attention back to the matter at hoof.

"We don't have time to worry about any other's, our hooves will be full with this one." The dark skinned pegasi warned his brother.

As the two callously heaved Dash onto the cart, the brother replied, "You're right, we'll tell the court and _they _can deal with it. Now let's get back home, this place reeks of the earth."

Rainbow Dash raised her head and asked, "Wait, you guys are from where? Pega-what-ium? I've never even heard of this place." The two pegasi quickly exchanged sharp glares, before the dark one clocked Dash over the head with some kind of cudgel. The world went blurry, then it went dark.

* * *

><p>Fluttershy was watering her garden as she did every morning, all of the fruits and vegetables had been planted in convenient alphabetical order, from asparagus to zucchini. Harvest time was coming up soon, all the plants had poked their various leaves and stems out of the ground and were stretching towards the sky, soaking up the sun's bounty. In but a few weeks there'd be treats for all of her animal friends, and her pony friends as well. The thought brought a smile to her face and made the tedious chore tolerable.<p>

About the time when she had reached the red bell peppers, she noticed a shadow moving across your yard. Sky traffic was rare, sky traffic near the Everfree Forest was rarer still. She looked up and saw two pegasi flying with a strange cart containing all manner of odd things, on it's own a tad strange, but didn't warrant concern or investigation. But the one thing that really caught her eye was the un-moving body of one of her friends! Rainbow Dash lied motionless on top of the heap, blood trickling from her head. Fluttershy had nothing to go on, but she knew she had to make a split second decision. Running to town to get her friends help would have taken too long, the pegasi were moving fast, and would be too far away to track. She was not about to leave one of her dear friends in a perilous situation, Any of them would have done the same for her, and she knew it. But in her haste, she would not leave her home un-cared for. If only the care-taker was less... belligerent.

"Angel?" Fluttershy called. Angel stumbled out of his little pen drowsily, and rubbed his eyes. "Some mornings..." Angel wasn't a morning person, and he would have ignored any other pony's call, but never Fluttershy's. "Angel. Mama's going away for a little while. Can you take care of everything while I'm gone?" Angel with his half shut eyes and a slouched posture, gave the best attempt at a salute that he could. "Thank you, I knew I could count on you. I promise I won't be gone a moment longer than necessary. I'll be back soon." With that Fluttershy flew off after Rainbow's captors. As soon as she was out of sight, Angel walked back into his home, the plants could go thirsty for an hour or two until he was _ready _to start the day.

* * *

><p>"Constricted, helpless, at another pony's mercy... Some days you just gotta ask yourself, 'how did I get here'?" Dash thought as she awoke for the second time today, A throbbing headache kept her pinned on the uneven pile, blunt and jagged objects poking her incessantly. But she managed to pry open her eyes to gaze upon one of the most incredible things she had ever seen. It was gigantic. The largest thing she had ever seen in the sky. The whole thing was a city on the clouds. Not a city <em>of<em> clouds, but built on top of them. Cloudsdale was impressive, but this... She could fit a hundred Cloudsdales onto this place.

The base wasn't a single cloud but thousands of clouds, cumulus, stratus, and cirrus all formed into one un-shifting amalgam. Pegasi buzzed in and around like a swarm of flies. She wondered how it stayed whole and didn't drift apart as clouds tend to do unless treated very specially. It was covered edge to edge in all sorts of buildings: over a dozen towers, two stadiums, and countless houses and stores. But the most striking building was the central Spire, it was very tall, several hundred feet and least, with a point upon it's top that seemed to pierce a hole in the sky, and it was detailed so intricately, she could make out hundreds of individual details from a good distance, the work of ponies with not much to do and a lot of time on their hooves. Her mouth would have fallen open agape, when she realized her mouth was already open, having been gagged.

"Your voice annoys us." The light pegasi teased, answering her unasked question, his tone and composure had eased from tense to confident and relaxed, after all, they had the home field advantage. As they got closer, Dash noticed all the structures littering the massive cloud-scape seemed to be _built _out of cloud, like one would build a house out of wood or brick. Back in Equestria, clouds were carved into houses. The material ranged between various shades and hues of blue and white. The rare tinges of purple, black, and orange worked their way in too. The cart was made out of the same material, and rubbing her hoof against it, she found that it still had the smooth texture of clouds, it was very hard, almost rock hard.

"Behold Pegalysium, the home and original birthplace of the pegasi, who knows what your ancestors did to earn displacement from its beauty. The _last_ bit of beauty you'll ever see, Earth-Tainted." Earth-Tainted, what did that mean? Whatever it was it certainly wasn't a compliment.

The two pegasi began to slow down as they approached a dock, jutting out of the edge of the clouds. Rainbow Dash watched as, for the first time since she had seen them, the pegasi touched their hooves to the ground, and rested their wings. They both uttered a loud sigh of relief as they could finally relax. The look of relaxation, or _any _positive emotion on their faces was somehow alien. They yanked the helpless Rainbow Dash onto the ground and they attached two sets of manacles, securing the first cup to a ring in the harness, and the second cup to one of their hooves. Dash figured it was a measure to prevent escape. This was obviously a society of paranoia if such precautions in place. Dash didnt see the point, what was she going to do? Take a leap of faith off the clouds? Still, this was the least of her worries as she was yanked out of the cart and dragged along on the ground until finally gaining her balance.

Her detainees moved a fast pace with little patience, not even stopping if she tripped, just scraping her along the ground, she was almost certain she was being tripped on purpose. They hadn't exactly treated her like royalty before, but now it was like she didn't even exist, just a load to haul around. As she went through the streets she had a chance to look more closely at the cities architecture. This was a housing district, but the houses didn't look like regular cloud homes, they lacked the soft edges and curves characteristic of clouds, these houses had no curves, everything was sharp and geometrical, like a house you'd built of wood or stone. Clouds were _not _supposed to look like this.

The various pegasi walking the street all had similar features: they all were either some degree of yellow, white, or blue. Most peculiarly their cutie marks were all sky themed: the sun, clouds, feathers, bird, etc. Sky themed cutie marks were common among pegasi, as her own cutie mark demonstrated, but there were just as many that had nothing to do with the sky. Unbeknownst to Rainbow Dash, these marks had little to do with talents, but instead served as a kind of caste system in Pegalysium, they signified what family you belonged to. Like most of the Apple family had apple related cutie marks. Somehow this culture had managed to alter the fundamental mechanics of cutie marks...

As they passed the numerous pegasi, nearly all of them stopped and stared giving looks of disgust and anger to Rainbow Dash. The kind of reactions a criminal would expect, but she had no idea what set them off. How could they be so upset with somepony they didn't even know? They didn't know what why she was here or what she did, they just saw her and assumed the worst. She admitted it was most likely the heavy chains and rusty harness or the fact she was smashed between two burlesque guards. But she still had no idea what she had done wrong. The gravity of her situation struck her for the first time. She had been: 1. filly-napped for no adequately explained reason. 2. Taken to a place far away from everything she knew and loved, that was hostile and wanted nothing good to do with her. And 3. The place in question seemed to have a grave punishment in store. She was extremely upset at both this place and herself for letting her curiosity get her into this mess, "If I'd just stayed home and done my job, I wouldn't be in this mess." She thought to herself as they paced.

they kept on walking through many busy streets, there was amazing the amount of activity here. If the entire city was this busy, there must have been at least a couple hundred thousand pegasi living here. At last they drew closer to their ultimate destination. There was no mistaking the spire she had seen coming into the city. It was even more intimidating up close. Countless months and tons upon tons of materials must have gone to creating this landmark. Rainbow Dash's heart sank even lower, if she was being taken to a place _this _big, _this _important, _this _downright scary. She was in bigger trouble than she thought. She stared at it sharply. Maybe her gaze would somehow make it fall to pieces; where was Derpy when you needed her?

* * *

><p>The Mayor was frantic. She rushed through the town towards Twilight Sparkles residence, as she knew she had easy contact with Princess Celestia. Her mind was one track towards this one goal, missing or ignoring several friendly greetings from other Ponyville residents. She walked up to Twilight's door and gave it two sharp knocks, tapping her foot awaiting response. Twilight answered, although in a less than advantageous moment, Her mane was wrapped up in a towel, and she was still dripping having just bathed.<p>

Surprised to see her guest, Twilight said, "Mayor? What are you doing here? Can I... Help you with somethi-"

"Twilight? You can sent a letter directly to the princess, correct?"

"Ye-es." Twilight cleared her throat, and took on the proper term for addressing a delegate such as the Mayor. "Yes. Why? What's happened?"

"I don't have time to explain! The Princess needs to be contacted immediately."

The Mayor ran to Twilight's desk and scrounged together a pen and scroll, she then began writing as fast as her hoofs could maneuver the feather quill. (How hooves move quills, or any object for that matter, we shall never know.) Within but a few moments she was finished, hastily raveling and sealing the scroll. Spike happened to be coming down the steps and the Mayor seized the opportunity.

"You! Send this! _Now!"_

"Ah! Okay!" Spike replied startled, he instinctively blew a plume of green flame, disintegrating the scroll into the usual puff of smoke which in but a few moments would reconstitute in front the Princess's eyes... The Mayor sighed and sat down of the hard oak steps, breathing deeply. "Er. What did I just send?" Spike asked, very confused.

"Yes, What _did _Spike just send. I'd like to know as well." Twilight said in a decidedly interrogative tone. The Mayor inhaled sharply and pressed down mane, trying to regain a semblance of her usual professional attitude.

"Twilight... Rainbow Dash has been filly-napped."

Twilight was taken aback "filly-kidnapped? By whom?"

"The answer of 'whom' is a long one, even _I _don't know all of the story, I was given my orders from Princess Celestia on where to meet them, and to take them seriously, _very _seriously. Poor Rainbow Dash, if only she'd known her place and hadn't followed us."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Spike asked, concerned for Dash's safety.

"No. There is nothing to do but wait."

"Now _that's _just a cliche answer!"

"Spike!"

* * *

><p>It was a quiet midday in the castle. Par for the course as not that many major crises broke out in Equestria, a fact for which all its ponies were grateful. Princess Celestia was sitting (Well, ponies can't very well sit, so I suppose laying) on her throne, the main hall providing a great view of many Equestrian landmarks, When all of a sudden a small scroll appeared in front of her. This was no new occurrence but considering the time of day...<p>

"Hmm, what this? A report already? But it's so early." The Princess mused, telepathically breaking the seal. "Hold on, not a letter from Twilight but... Ponyville's Mayor? This is a pleasant surprise, she hardly ever writes." As the Princess skimmed over the letter, the expression on her face changed from a smile to a more plain expression, her eyes narrowed as she finished reading. The parchment fell to the floor and the princess arose, startling the four pegasi guardsponies stationed at the throne. "I had hoped my trust had not be misplaced, I was afraid of this from the start, but I expected better from these ponies."

"Princess, is something wrong?" One of the guards asked, following the Princess in her stead.

The Princess walked to the balcony over looking the capital, turned and said, "ready the royal chariot, find our two best and strongest fliers, and tell them to prepare for a long journey."

"Princess, if this is a diplomatic matter, we could have a representative out within the hour."

"Thank you, but this is a personal matter, I must resolve it personally." Celestia cleared her throat, "Now, you have your orders, please carry them out." The guards rushed to see to the Princess's request. She looked off into the distance and muttered "Rainbow Dash. I am so sorry you became wrapped up in all this."

Miles away, on the edge of the horizon, in the far off megapolis of Pegalysium. A cold, merciless congregation was about to decide the fate of young interloper. A meek pegasi in over her head was about to become lost in a strange environment, a group of revenge consumed rebels were planning the literal downfall of all those around them, and a yet un-introduced third party had concerns involving not only Pegalysium, but the entire world.


	2. Fair and Balanced, So They Say

**Author's Note: Massive revisions for anyone who read before 09/18/12. After a nearly 1 year hiatus, a new chapter will finally come soon, and I'll try and keep up a half decent pace now.**

Fluttershy couldn't believe her luck. Dash and her captors had slipped out of her sight for just a moment, and she was gone, lost in the crowd. A veritable hive of pegasi were buzzing around Pegalysium for business and leisure, and Ash was lost somewhere in that mess. Oddly enough, even though there were so many pegasi flying about, not a single one was flying _away _from the city, surely somepony must have outside business or relatives to visit? Lost and without so much as a clue where to begin looking for her friend, Fluttershy turned to that one timeless method for making decisions that would stand completely and utterly _infallible_.

"Eenie Menie Minie Moe, Catch a bunny by the toe, if he hollerslet him go, Eenie Menie Minie... Moe." Fluttershy chanted, pointing her hooves every which way on a different count, each one just as random as the last, when she hit "Moe" she uncovered her eyes to see where she'd begin her search.

Fluttershy's hoof pointed toward the eastern end of the city, a strange obelisk jutted up _just_ enough to stand out among the surrounding buildings. With no other options, Fluttershy began her approach, and almost instantly her nerves threatened to take over, locking her wings against her abdomen as they'd done before. But she swallowed hard and kept her wings flapping, albeit in a very loose definition of "flapping." She made her unsteady decent near the obelisk. It seemed to be a park, but "square" would've been more appropriate as it was surrounded by shops. Chairs, tables and benches, all made of cloud, filled the space of the square. Written on the obelisk were the words "This park made possible by the hard work and donations of..." followed by a list of names that filled the entire side of the obelisk.

Gossips chattered away in the shade of the imposing monument, If there was any place to hear about the whereabouts of her Dash it was here. Gossips are notorious for having news first, even if they tend to put their own spin on it. Fluttershy chose three particularly snide looking pegasi and walked up to them with the hopes of getting some answers.

"-Say she is from where exactly?"

"Don't know, haven't questioned her yet."

"Excuse me?" Fluttershy whispered.

"What makes it worse is the dirt-crawlers _knew _she was living there, and did _nothing _about it!"

"W-What if there's a whole city of the impure pegasi?"

"Excuse me?" Fluttershy muttered.

"Don't be so ridiculous... All I know is she's as good as clipped!"

"Ooh, you think they'll do it publicly? It's been weeks sin-"

"Excu-" Fluttershy didn't even get to finish before the pegasi snapped their heads to look at her with cold, angry stares. Fluttershy shrunk back, asking "Could you three help me find, um, somepony?"

"Somepony, huh? I don't think so" One of the pegasi said mockingly, she had a white coat with a mane the color of sea water. "Have _you _guys seen 'somebody'?" She said to her two friends, who joined in the joke with sarcastic denials followed by laughter. Fluttershy began to blush, she hadn't thought this through.

She worked up the courage to say, "She's... Um, well, she's blue."

"Blue! Blue, ya say?" The white pegasi said choking back laughter. "Real help that is, A lot of pegasi are blue."

"_I'm_ blue" one of the other pegasi, (who was in fact, blue) contributed.

"She- I mean, Her mane is-, it's: red, orange, yellow... purple... green" Fluttershy rattled off her friend's colors from memory, becoming slower and sadder with each one as the pegasi continued laughing at her, the third pegasi abruptly stopping as she finished.

"Wait, doesn't that sound just like doesn't that sound like the outsider they dragged in?" The third pegasi, gold with a white mane, chimed in. (Fluttershy hoped "dragged in" was being used metaphorically) "Why would you be looking for her?" The other pegasi's faces changed from malicious glee to suspicion.

"It's not important. Do you know where she would be?"

"Probably waiting for judgment by the Pegalites" The white pegasus said slowly as if by deliberation.

"And where would they be?" Fluttershy asked, a small grin playing across her face at the prospect of finally getting answers. However this almost instantly vanished as the pegasi's faces became riddled with even more suspicion.

"At the Spire... Where else?" The white pegasus said even slower, her eyes narrowed.

"Now, Now, don't be harsh, after all, remember when they consorted at that new tea shop down the street last week instead?" The golden pegasi said, causing another wave of laughter at Fluttershy's expense. Even though she was being laughed at, she was actually grateful for the sudden brevity among the pegasi, as it offered her chance to sneak away. With the information of her friend in hoof, Fluttershy recomposed herself and was about to set off for the spire. (which she assumed was the gigantic tower in the middle of the city) She began to fly away, but her nerves still refused to let up, causing them to shakes profusely as she tried to get some momentum going. Unfortunately, the pegasi had stopped laughing, and noticed her less than graceful attempt at flight.

"Hey, **Hey!**" The pegasus cried out at Fluttershy, she dropped to the ground and turned around to face the pegasi now galloping towards her. She thought maybe they were coming to apologize for their treatment of her, but instead they surrounded her and and blue one shouted bluntly, "What's wrong with your wings!"

"What are you talking about? Nothing's wrong with my wings" Fluttershy said defensively.

"Oh, yes there is, look at how they were _shakin' _like that." The gold pegasus replied.

"Yeah, come on, come clean!" The blue pegasi shouted, getting right up in Fluttershy's face.

"And your flying is so... _stunted!"_ The white pegasus said, disgust creeping into her voice.

"Any pegasi worth a drizzle in April wouldn't go around disgracing the fine art of flying like that!" The green pegasi added in.

"I, er, I have a condition?" Fluttershy said trying to make it sound as convincing as possible.

The pegasi just stared at her blankly for several seconds before screaming and running away shouting various things such as "Unclean, Unclean!" This display drew the stares of the various pegasi who were conversing or picnicking. Once the hysterical pegasi ran out of view all eyes stood on Fluttershy momentarily but after getting a good look at this supposed "threat" they quickly dismissed it and returned to their business. Fluttershy was slightly embarrassed, and understandably so, at drawing so much attention, but she proceeded towards the Spire... Now her legs planted firmly onto the clouds.

* * *

><p>Celestia closed in on the city of Pegalysium with fire in her eyes, Her chariot pullers had begun to tire at about the midway point, this was a much longer journey than the ones they were used to, Equestrians very rarely had business in other countries, few were even certain other countries existed. Now, Rainbow Dash was in the custody of two guards, and Fluttershy on her own was able to sneak in without much notice, but a chariot drawn by pegasi in full plate pulling a Alicorn with a flowing mane, (quite <em>literally,<em> a _flowing _mane.) like something out of a mosaic, drew a little more attention. A patrolling pegasus spotted her and rushed to block her path.

Upon seeing Celestia he became a bit panicked, perhaps intimidated too, he began to shift and quake in his armor. "_You._ What business do you have in Pegalysium?"

"One of my subjects has been detained, I must converse with your council to see her release." Princess Celestia said, strictly business, as opposed to her usual sunny (pardon the pun) demeanor. Despite the comfort of her lifestyle, she was still an experienced matriarch, and thus was able to do what needed to be done what the time called for it. Sometimes, however, being serious felt unnatural to her.

The Pegasi lowered his guard, sighed, and said "I shouldn't be letting you through. But this is beyond my jurisdiction, and neither my loyalty or my wage is strong enough for me to be incurring the wrath of demi-goddesses... Go on through, though I doubt you'll convince the council of _anything._"

"Colts, to the Spire." Celestia commanded as the guard pegasus flew out of their way.

* * *

><p>Rainbow Dash was pacing back and forth in her cell. It would actually have been quite comfortable, (by jail standards) if it wasn't so confining. The floor and the bed seemed to be made out of normal, soft cloud, shame the bars weren't. They had taken her to some sort of basement beneath the spire and tossed her in this cell to just... wait. There was that distinct dampness that never goes away, the price of building within a hollow cloud. It was what earth ponies and unicorns would describe as "mugginess", and while they found it uncomfortable, Pegasi found it quite cozy. But in light of the situation, it made Rainbow Dash feel miserable. She looked out a barred hole in the cloud and she saw just why all of these pegasi preferred to spend all of their time in the sky.<p>

To say that what lied below was a wasteland would be generous, at least a wasteland has some shred of survivability, this place looked like in would kill you in ten seconds flat. The ground looked mud, it wasn't mud, but that was the closest thing she could draw comparison too and without finding out what it really was. Large geysers dotted the landscape, shriveled and black. like popped pimples they were belching out some sort of greenish gunk that slowly flowed in large rivers across the landscape. some sort of steam or otherwise visible vapors seeped from the ground, and _nothing _lived down there, not that she would have wanted to run into something that could survive down there. This archipelago of acrid filth stretched on as far as Dash could see, though to be honest, that wasn't very far. She briefly tussled with the thought that maybe the Pegalysians thought all ground was like this and that's why they hated it so much, but she dismissed that idea almost immediately, remembering how her kidnappers were avoiding touching even the verdant plains of Equestria.

The two guards, whom she was becoming quite tired off, marched down the hallway and motioned her out of her cell, they didn't bother reattaching their cuff links and Dash probably could have made a break for it but she didn't, there was no point, were would she even go? Upon her examination of the surrounding quagmire, a leap of faith was not at all an appealing option. They led her upstairs and they walked around in what appeared to be a large circular chamber that looped with several entrances. Surprisingly, even though it was the centerpiece of the city, there weren't that many pegasi in the Spire. A few came and left through the entrances, so it must have served as a nexus alongside housing this group, the "Pegalite."

"So... This "Pegalite" will know this is all a misunderstanding, right?"

"Oh, they are _very_ fair and balanced, so they say.

"Thank goodness... Wait, what do you mean '_so they say_'."

"It means you will most likely be parting with your wings by sunup, if they allow you the luxury of a final nights rest that is."

Rainbow Dash gulped hard once again, and her pupils shrank to the size of peas, her brain rapidly working to process the comment of 'parting with your wings.' Her wings? What did her wings have to do with any of this, the idea of having them _removed _sent a chill up her spine, there were few ways to rob a pegasi of their flight, they were all equally gut-wrenching.

Eventually they came to a gate that went not outward but inward, Rainbow Dash could swear it would have been faster to walk the _other _way around the circular spire. The gates opened from the inside swinging out as Rainbow Dash stepped into the tallest room she had ever seen, the great hall of Canterlot didn't hold a candle to this. A short ramp led up to a podium surrounded by all sides by coliseum style seating, over 200 pegasi of different age and color sat in these progressively rising rows, waiting for the accused, Rainbow Dash, to take the podium, rising high above the rest was another podium where sat an middle aged pegasi, pale blue with a white mane, she assumed this was the leader of this council, as that is usually the form for these councils such as this. Leaders tend to enjoy altitude over those around them, Rainbow Dash could sympathize with the pleasure of height. hovering to him, in the thickest armor she'd ever seen, a single pegasus watched over him, she couldn't even tell what his, or hers, colors were, as the only part of the pony's body she could see were two steely eyes, How he or she flew with the weight of all that metal bearing down she had no idea.

This court was spectacular in and of it's own right, but it wasn't what made this room so massive, a glance upward would reveal just what made the spire so perilously tall. Much to her surprise, the Spire was not multiple floors, but instead one cavernous chamber that stretched all the way to the roof hundreds of feet above. She could see the small figures of pegasi up there, quills in hoof and scrawling Celestia knew what upon the walls. Appropriate given that every spot of the first half of this chamber was covered in writing, only the lower sections were eligible to her, but it didn't appear to be the city's history as she expected, true the occasional sentence or paragraph detailing some significant event found it's way in, but mostly it seemed to be names and dates, then more names and dates, all the way up to the ceiling she presumed, for a purpose unknown.

Rainbow Dash stepped up to the podium closely followed by the two guardsmen as the head Pegalite sternly asked, "Is the accused present?" His voice loudly echoed in the room. Rainbow Dash simply nodded and that seemed to get the point across.

"Very good, now then, let us take attendance, so that the validity of this trail is confirmed, and that it may recorded in posterity upon the sacred walls of this spire forever." The pegasus said in a bizarrely relaxed tone, this colt was not easily surprised it would appear. Then he took out a long scroll, and began to read off each and every name on it, each reading followed by a "present" from the called pegasus. Going clockwise from the lowest rung up, it seemed every single one of the 200 pegasi was going to be announced, and Rainbow Dash stood there in disbelief and frustration wondering if they were going to do this for every single one. And they did, but you're not interested, Dash wasn't interested, and frankly neither am I at the thought of going through that list.

After about a hundred names were called Rainbow Dash was impatiently tapping her hoof against the floor, suddenly there was a pause in the proceedings. Rainbow momentarily perked up thinking they were done, but then they went right on, Rainbow Dash's face and ears sank in disappointment, but she did notice that the seat that one of the seats was in fact empty. Yet none of the Pegalites seemed to pay it any mind, as if it was supposed to be empty. Finally, when they finished, The head Pegalite looked down at Rainbow Dash asking, "Accused, your name, if you will." Rainbow Dash simply stood there, trying to put on her most defiant stance to make them think she was _too good _for them to hear her name. In reality she was so frazzled she'd practically forgotten her own name.

"Alright, you can keep your name to yourself, but know that it will be lost forever if you do." The head Pegalite said in response to Dash's silence. "You two then, address yourselves." The head Pegalite demanded of the two guards.

"Silent Gale, of the Winds" The lighter pegasi proclaimed proudly.

"Solar Wind, also of the Winds" The darker pegasi exclaimed in the same tone.

"Very well, and of what crime have you found this one guilty of." The HP inquired.

"_Guilty of_?" Rainbow Dash thought, "_The trail hasn't started and I'm already guilty, so much for fair and balanced..."_ Rainbow Dash snorted dejectedly, her head sinking and her eyes rolling.

"Me and My brother have found her guilty of the dual crimes of being a Rogueborn and an Earth-tainted." Murmurs arose among the Pegalites at these words. Even the HP seemed a little surprised.

"These are both our most serious crimes, but very well. Accused, You are found guilty of the grievous crimes of being both a Rogueborn, _and _an Earth-tainted! For this only one punishment is proper, come tomorrow morning your wings with be _severed _and you will be flung of the edge of Pegalysium, you will die and be devoured by the earth you love so dearly."

At this Rainbow Dash burst out, "'What?' You mean you're gonna' just believe them? Why? They didn't prove anything, I didn't even do anything _wrong_!"

"The word of two trained and trusted members of the Pegalysium elite is law, perhaps one alone could be doubted, but two? We have no reason to _dis_believe them, and we also have no reason to take your word, a stranger, over there's." The HP had a point, These two were Pegalysian, born and raised, and the Pegalites didn't even know Dash's _name._

_" _OK, say I am both of these... things. What do they mean? And why they hay are they wrong?"

" You do not understand the nature of your crimes? Then because the Pegalites are a fair and benevolent force, I shall explain to you the magnitude of your crimes, so you may understand how you have wronged Pegalysium, your race, and yourself. Perhaps then you will see your punishment as just, and face it with dignity and honor."

"I saw we skip the lessons and get on with it." The armored pegasus said impatiently in a deep male voice, at least that solved the gender mystery

"Commander Stratus, You know that is not our way, we don't punish for crimes one does not understand, or maybe I was too hasty in promoting you? Maybe I should send you back to the academy to learn our laws again?"

"That will not be necessary, continue on, please, honored High Pegalite."

"Good." The HP turned his gaze back to Rainbow Dash. "First, the crime of becoming an Earth-tainted. Our race was born among the clouds, and meant to live and die in the sky. It is our home, our place of belonging. It's clouds are our haven and shelter, they protect us from many of the beasts and monsters that prowl the earth. We were given the sky a testament to our superiority, our birthright, to look down upon those bound to the earth and know that we are their betters."

"The earth is a disgusting place!" The Head Pegalite continued, quickly spiraling into a rant. "it _crawls_ with filth of all kinds, living and un-living. It denies those who are bound to it true freedom! It throws up obstacles like mountains, seas, and forests to constrict and cage all those it calls its spawn. We Pegasi possess the freedom of the air, no obstacles prevent us from seeing it's infinite beauty. To forgo the wonders of the sky and touch the ground, is to irreversibly taint one's self, to spit upon and show the ultimate contempt of these gifts. You have defied your heritage to partake in the temptations of the ground! In doing so you have shamed all Pegasi. In doing so you have earned death."

"Then we proceed to the crime of being a Rogueborn. When a pegasi proves himself unworthy to bask in the glory of Pegalysium, he is sent to wander the skies, taking refuge only upon the occasional cloud to sorrowfully remind him of the utopia he will never see again. These outcasts are told given only two commands, never return, and _never_ breed. Such offspring are Rogueborn, they are imperfect, as they come from imperfect parents. Some even from parents of _other races_." The HP's voice took on an air of revulsion at the mention of other races of ponies. "These Earth ponies, taking on the mantle of being bound as if it were something to be _proud _off. And these unicorns, daring to attempt to breach the sanctity of our skies with their magical arts. The simple idea of our kind mixing is abominable!" Rainbow Dash seethed with anger over this pegasi's callous insulting of her friends, there was nothing she was more proud to have in this world, not even her wings. "As such, you are a abomination, a blot upon the pegasi as a race. Your existence must be rectified!."

"Being one of these alone is a disgrace enough. But to be both is such a hideous perversion of all that pegasi are meant to be, not one of us, from the Pegalite to the lowest citizen will be able to feel any pride in themselves while you're alive! Come tomorrow morning, we will be rid of you forever, and the world will be a better place with your passing."

"Honered High Pegalite, if we may make a request of the council, may _we _be the ones to enact this cleansing." Solar Wind suggested, as he turned his head to Rainbow Dash and looked at her with a wicked and delighted glare. Dash barred her teeth at him, and right near spit on him, before Silent Gale yanked her harness, and stared at her harshly, warning her of the consequences of insubordination.

The HP closed his eyes for a moment before replying, "I see no reason to deny this request, very well. You two shall have the honor, sleep well tonight knowing that you do a great service first thing in the morning. Dismissed."

Rainbow Dash was incensed, her wings desperately fought for freedom in a losing battle against the harness. the two guards struggled to restrain her and eventually managed to force her out of the courtroom, as she was led down the corridor, she saw the last pony she ever expected to see. It was Princess Celestia. Out here in this no pony's land, something familiar had found it's way to her. Rainbow Dash couldn't believe her eyes, not for a second, in disbelief she stuttered, "Pri- Princess? How?"

"Don't worry, Rainbow Dash, I promise I will get you out of this." Celestia calmly whispered to Dash as they passed each other. Dash felt a wave of utter relief wash over her, the Princess herself had come to her aid, she was the most powerful being Dash knew, and she had almost full confidence in her, "almost" because the fact that she came here in person, obviously meant that these "Pegalite" were either not to be taken lightly or else were extremely stubborn, Dash was betting on the latter. As she was escorted back to her cell, she was frustrated that she could not hear what was going on above, cloud is oddly enough a _really _good sound insulator. As she lay on her makeshift cloud bed, she knew she would not sleep that night as the anxiety of whether or not the Princess would secure her release, and the potential consequences if she failed, swirling around in her head.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Princess Celestia stepped up to the podium in the Pegalite Meeting chamber, as most of it's members were departing. The HP himself was flying away, closely followed by Stratus, when the HP looked down and noticed the Princess. He looked at her with equal parts respect and disdain as he said smugly, " Princess Celestia of Equestria, so you have business with the Pegalite? It's been years since you've visited Pegalysium, a few <strong>hundred<strong> in fact."

"Certainly you _must_ know why I am here?"

"I most 'certainly' do not, regardless, it is sunset, and the Pegalite will not converge again until sunrise."

"You are sure you cannot make time for even me?"

"Absolutely, the Pegalite conform to no one's schedule but their own, you will simply have to wait until sunrise." Stratus said "matter of factly".

"I See." The Princess said as she raising an eyebrow, drawing nervous suspicion from the both of them.

Suddenly, Princess Celestia's horn began to glow, followed by the rest of her body, the commander's eyes were trained on her wondering what form of action she was about to take, potentially hostile action. Her eyes shot open, shining white as she faced towards the sun. The two of them then watched in amazement through the windows, one each side of the Spire's main chamber, as the sun began to rise back up from the horizon, It then began to move **back **stretching to evening, and then to noon, and then to dawn, and finally, all the way back to sunrise.

The HP was flabbergasted "B-Breadth of the Skies!" he said breathlessly.

He looked down at the Princess, who said with more than a hint of satisfaction, " I believe you said you would see me at sunrise?"

"But-, you can't just, that isn't..." The Head Pegalite sighed heavily, and raised his hoof to his temple. "Very well. The Pegalite will hear your case _immediately_... Unbelievable."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile back in Equestria, Princess Luna was <em>very <em>confused, along with the majority of Equestrians.


	3. Separations, Successions, and Schisms

**Author's Note: Massive revisions for anyone who read before 09/18/12. After a nearly 1 year hiatus, a new chapter will finally come soon, and I'll try and keep up a half decent pace now.**

It took a short while for the Pegalite to reassemble, Their bloodshot eyes as well as low, growling voices served as a dead giveaway to their dispositions. They were not expecting Celestia's solar rearrangement, no pony was. Celestia felt a twinge of guilt, she had taken advantage of her powers, if only for a second. But she was not pulling any punches with the Pegalysians, their civilization was not nearly ancient as diluted themselves into believing, and their city was by no stretch of the imagination the origin of pegasi-kind! She had been there at the beginning, she had helped them construct their city, and given them a powerful force of magic as a gesture of good will, a force she felt even now beneath her hooves, sending echoes as vibrations through the clouds. A form of emanation only those finely attuned in the magic arts would be able to perceive. She'd given her gift and left, and not once in those thousand years since then did she return, though unbeknownst to the Pegalysians, she'd been able to watch the city grow through her 'gift'.

And in that interim millennia they'd built an insufferable culture: flaunting their supposed superiority over anything with ears to listen, kidnapping peaceful foreigners for imagined crimes, inflicting harsh punishments for trivial misdemeanors or attempting to stand up to the cruelty of the Pegalites, and showing intense jingoism against anypony unfortunate enough not to be born within their borders. Celestia knew that somehow she needed to negotiate Rainbow Dash's freedom, it was about more than a pony's life, if this kidnapping was allowed to go unchallenged it would be a matter of time before haughtiness and imperialism would lead Pegalysium soldiers onto Equestria's doorstep.

The pegasi had always been skilled in the art of war. It came naturally to them, a product of their personalities, as free and as stormy as the skies. In the ages before the founding of Equestria, before the pegasi advanced beyond their barbaric ways, Rainbow Dash would have been the model pegasi recruit. The Pegalysians were 'old-world' and prided themselves on their military might. Nothing more than another aspect of their racial supremicism, rather than any genuine need for self defense.

Celestia gathered herself, preparing for the worst, as the Head Pegalite reclaimed his podium and began shuffling papers, then shuffling them again. And again. Each time looking for any tiny crimp in the order to straighten out, and disorganizing the entire pile when he found one, just to start over again. Celestia cleared her throat after about a minute of the charade. Prompting the Head Pegalite to lay down the stack of papers and addressed the Princess.

"'Princess' Celestia of Equestria, we hesitantly have called together this impromptu meeting, as you seem insistent. Do not trample upon the kindness of the Council, as this is _extremely _irregular... You have the floor."

"Thank you. I have come before all of you to negotiate the release of the young pegasi, arrested in the recent trade incident."

"We are aware of this Pegasi and this trade incident, needless to say it will require long deliberation to determine if after such an incident, this agreement is still in our favor, as you know, it was not formed upon my official decision. But that is a private discussion not for foreign ears. The council hears your demand, and asks why should we entertain it."

"The Pegasus in question, Rainbow Dash, is a subject in my kingdom, it is not your responsibility to exact punishment upon her."

"The responsibilities of Pegalysium and it's citizens extend to _all_ pegasi, former or current allegiances, ties, or positions of power are not factors taken into consideration by Pegalysian law enforcement."

"The arrest was enacted on Equestrian soil, you have no right to enforce your laws in my lands."

"Celestia, your borders are arbitrary, a formality. Something you earth dwellers set up to keep one another from gnawing each others legs off, no doubt. Pegalysium's claims ownership of all the skies and all the sky covers."

"...Could _I _take responsibility for her actions?"

"You may not. The crime of the earth-taint is the most terrible affront to Pegalysium our laws categorize. As for the crime of being a rogueborn, it is a matter of birth, and one cannot take responsibility for another's birth."

Celestia grew frustrated as her attempts were struck down repeatedly by the Head Pegalite. His rebuttles never carrying any base in logic, but rather justifying themselves on the delusion of pegasi superiority. The Pegalite had the definite advantage as she was in _their_ territory and had to go by _their_ rules. They could dismiss her reasoning as they please. She was forced to pull out a wild card. "The one you hold is more important than you know, she is a bearer of one of the Elements of Harmony!"

This declaration aroused murmurs from several of the council members, exchanging whispers and shifty glances, the Head, however, maintained his glazed look of indifference.

"You say this as if it is supposed to mean something to us, yes, we know of these 'elements'. But they have never been housed in Pegalysium. And they have never been of importance to the safety of our nation. Whatever power this one possesses does not supersede the authority of this council. As this is clearly a purely Equestrian matter, and therefore, due to our isolationist policies we have no reason to do thusly; Princess Celestia, we will _not _turn over the captured earth-tainted to you."

"Also, in light of this recent discovery, you would do well to report anymore suspected Rogueborns over to the Council for sentencing, in order to avoid further... abrasion between us."

"Are you trying to turn this around on me?"

"I am doing no such thing, I am merely making a suggestion for the better of both our nations."

Celestia's frustration was growing to a point, when suddenly, she remembered something, a thousand year old memory, untouched until now.

"Thi- This entire affair is an affront to our agreement!" Celestia shouted out, surprising even the Head Pegalite.

"Hmm. I think not, no where is this begrudgingly accepted trade agreement did it mention anything restricting the seizure of criminals from Equestrian soil."

"Not that agreement. The _other _one, the _older _one."

This statement threw the council into a state of outright disbelief, nearly all the councilors objecting to this suggestion.

"You speak nonsense, nowhere in our history does it speak of Pegalysium _ever _consorting with another nation, until _very_ recently."

Celestia shook her head silently in disappointment, "So this is what it's come to? You, or perhaps your ancestors have completely repressed the events that happened over a thousand years ago?"

In outrage the HP slammed his hooves down on his podium, the blunt thud reverberated through the vast spire and silence the cacophony of the council. "How _dare _you! You come into our land _unannounced_, demand the release of a convicted _criminal_, and then have the _nerve_ to question the wisdom and transparency of our esteemed forefathers. _You... _should leave." He said, clearing his throat and calming himself down.

"I see there will be no more discussing this with you, I will take my leave voluntarily." Celestia said solemnly as she began to walk out of the council chamber. As she was walking, she looked back and shot daggers into the eyes of the Head Pegalite, gravely intoning "But I warn you, if you should attempt to cause _any _harm to _any _of my innocent subjects. I will do all in my power to ensure that you harm no one again."

Commander Stratus became suddenly animated at this threat, and turned to the Head to request, "My Councilor, with your leave I could have her detained, with but a whistle I could have a regiment upon her before she leaves the gates."

"That won't be necessary, Stratus, there's nothing she could do to threaten us anyway."

Celestia stopped, nearly out the door, and sighed, saying under her breath, "I wish it didn't have to come to this, I unfairly gave myself a higher opinion of myself from my friendship with Highfeather, but I see now that you've done away with him..."

The HP's nostrils flared at the mention of the name 'Highfeather.''"**That one.** Oh, Celestia, you just know how to push all my buttons today, don't you? Bless your luck I am so forgiving. _His _name has been struck from the eternal records, when he dies, it'll be as though he never was. a fitting crime for one who brought so much unbridled shame to our city." The HP said with disgust.

"He tried to change you for the better!"

"He would have destroyed everything we are! He _lied _every waking moment of his life. Always he was off forming fraudulent, back hoofed deals with all earthly outsiders, not just Equestria! He played the patriot when he was truly a traitor, the worst form of hypocrite! We suspected him... We confronted him, he was so _proud _of it all, as if he had pulled some glorious prank on the entire world. Exile wasn't enough for him, even though his body was free of the earth taint, so severe were his crimes we subjected him to that punishment reserved only for the tainted. We stripped him of his wings and cast him off our city."

Sorrow washed over Celestia's face, "I assumed as much when his visitations stopped. He was such a vibrant one, full of hope and life. It is terrible what you have done to him, you'll never understand how much he cared for this city."

"We will not fall for your attempts at playing the guilt card, we did only what our laws dictate. And before your leave, Celestia, know that your threat will not be soon forgotten, and that if _you _should attempt to stop us from administering justice, it will only be a matter of time before your sovereignty pays the price for your interference."

The Head Pegalite waited to make sure the Princess was out of ear shot before turning to Stratus and whispering into his ear, "Call up the reserve warriors and begin the training drills. I want to be prepared to strike the _instant _it becomes necessary to wipe the Equestrians off the face of the earth."

"With _Vigor,_ sir. And what shall we do with the prisoner?"

"Execute her, immediately."

"Sir. Shouldn't we wait until sunrise?"

"Have you looked outside, it _is _sunrise." Not as soon as the HP finished saying that, the sun worked it's way back to the other side of the sky and neatly tucked itself under the horizon as was proper. "I hate her. With such fervor I hate her."

* * *

><p>Fluttershy was panting as she ascended the slope leading up to the grand doors of the Spire. A single guard stood watch in front of it, dreadfully bored and making no attempt to mask it, his stance was slouched and loose, not the image that comes to mind when one thinks of a soldier. As Fluttershy walked up to him his attention was completely focused on an innocuous bit of cloud.<p>

"Hello." Fluttershy received no response, "Could you open those doors for me, please?"

The guard glanced up at Fluttershy and said, "Nope" as if it was a power word for a spell to make ponies vanish instantly.

"Why not?"

The guard groaned, realizing that a simple rejection would not make this annoyance go away. He shifted in his armor and said, "Visiting hours are over, I think, the sun's been doing some weird stuff recently." He paused, as if in reflection, before saying, "the Pegalite have gone home, why don't you?"

"I have a, um, friend in there."

"A friend? No one has friends in the Spire. What d'ya have a date with a Pegalite? Here to fulfill a prisoner's last request? Get lost, _go home."_ Fluttershy just stood there, unmoving, a sad, sullen look on her face. Not even the guard could resist being a _little_ moved. "Look, I don't have time to escort lost little pegasi all around the city tonight. I'm getting off into two minutes, and I'm not doing charity work." The guard reached into a notch and pulled out a small shining blue coin with a pegasus's face indented into it. He tossed it to Fluttershy, who caught it with both of her hooves. "That Pygmy will get you a night at an inn down the street, and when you come back, bother a different guard!" Without a word, Fluttershy took the alien coin and walked off.

Rainbow Dash was in that tower somewhere, of this, she was certain, Fluttershy knew she had to get in there to see her. She didn't know how much time she had, or what she would do once she found Dash, but all that mattered was finding her and making sure she was safe. She wasn't sleeping tonight, Fluttershy could never sleep in an unfamiliar place, not without her friends to keep her company at least. But there were no friends here, no one cared about her, no one wanted to help, back in Equestria you didn't need to know a pony to get help from them, in this strange place she was on her own.

She flew off the edge of the main cloud and floated on a little outcropping, looking up she could still see the spire above, little trickles of water coming out of the cloud formed small puddles on passing clouds below, before the water was sucked in. Taking the small coin she had been given, The color and the face on it looked a lot like Dash. Fluttershy squeezed it tightly and took one last look at it, before whispering, "Where are you?" and let it free fall through the sky.

* * *

><p><strong>Earlier that day.<strong>

"I don't get it, we've been to Cloudsdale before!" Twilight said, frustrated at her inability to help.

"Yes, but, Twilight, this is different." The mayor replied dejectedly.

"I _know _a spell to let non-pegasi walk on clouds. We can just go up there in the balloon and-"

"You can't, Twilight! They'll destroy your balloon before you even have a chance to land without so much as a warning."

"But why? How did all this happen?"

"I... I don't know, nopony really knows."

Twilight's horn began to glow as all of the books on her shelves began to hover around her. Her eyes zoomed from one book to another, scanning the titles for something relevant.

"This library houses the greatest collection of lore outside of the Canterlot Archives, I just _know _there has to be _something _her that can shed some more light on this, 'Pegalysium!'"

Twilight found the book she was looking for the same place she'd found several other important books, under "E". It was a small yellow book, thin, only about forty pages, and bound in tanned leather, a practice not used for over four hundred years. Ingrained into the leather were the words, 'Equestrian Successions, Separations, and Schisms."

She read the title inquisitively, "Equestrian Successions, Separations, and Schisms?" A small Preface was located before the table of contents, it read, "Following the banishment of the then corrupted Princess Luna to her current prison, the moon. A large of factions formed seeking to take control of Equestria in lieu of the power vacuum formed, one by one each factions plans were foiled, and they either retreated, were banished, or left peaceably. The largest factions of each of the three pony races are known to have departed as follows; The earth ponies to the hostile mountain ranges of the south. The unicorns to the dangerous and mysterious Everfree forest in the west. And the Pegasi, the largest split, to the inhospitable marshes to the east.

Twilight skipped forward through the pages, names of splinter groups warranting various amounts of exposition, some several pages, some a paragraph, others a mere sentence of two and even just a footnote.

"Wait, this happened _how many times" _Spike asked, slightly aghast.

"It was a rough time for Equestria, Spike, it brought out the worst in a lot of ponies." Twilight replied, "Now then. Here we are, Pegalysium. The-... Wait a minute. This section is blank."

"Wait, what?" Spike said, climbing on Twilight's back to get a better look.

"Look at it, it's just the word, 'Pegalysium' and nothing else. None of the other sections are like that, just this one."

"I told you, Twilight, nopony knows, except perhaps Celestia, and she's never told anypony the whole story."

"Wait a minute, Celestia, that's it, she has to know more, maybe she c-" Spike said before being interrupted by Rarity.

To be more specific, Rarity bursting through the door of Twilight's home dripping wet, and covered with a towel, Twilight and the Mayor both yelped in surprise, while Spike just stood, eyes open wide.

"Rarity, you're... Um, wet." Spike said, locked in a trance-like state.

"I apologize for my most improper entrance, but this simply could not wait. Have any of you seen Fluttershy this morning?

"No, why? And why are you in a towel?" Twilight legitimately queried.

"Well, I was in the middle of the most luxurious bubble bath down at the spa, and just before I lost myself to total relaxation, I realized that Fluttershy _wasn't_ sitting besides me!"

"What's so odd about that?" Twilight asked, still a little shocked.

"You don't understand, Fluttershy has _never _missed our usual appointment. It's simply unheard of! Well, except for that _one _time a while back, and the time she was sick with the flu... but besides that, _unheard of! _There is only one possible, reasonable explanation..."_  
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"Which is?"

"_She's been __pony-napped!" _Rarity shouted, causing Twilight to fall back head over hooves, resulting in her and Spike ending up in a heap."

"That, ow, That seems a little rash don't you think, maybe she's just busy?"

"I highly doubt she would be too busy to spend time with her dearest friend, not without giving adequate warning. No, No, kidnapping is definitely the more reasonable assumption."

"Twilight, after all that's happened today, can you _really _rule it out?" Spike said, now knocked back to his senses.

Twilight sighed, "You right, Spike. Usually I wouldn't just to conclusions, but this has been and unusual day, and in light of what's happened, we should at least check Fluttershy's cottage."

"Recent incident? What recent incident, What ever is going on?" Rarity asked.

"We'll explain it on the way, there's no time to lose, let's go!" Twilight said as they began to run out the door.

"_Twilight, Wait!" _Rarity yelled.

"What!" Twilight snapped in frustration.

"...I just wanted to dry off first." Rarity replied, digging her hoof in the ground and looking away.

Twilight blushed, embarrassed and guilty, and said, "Oh, right. Go ahead. Um, sorry."

After Rarity was suitably dry, the Spike and the ponies ran through the now much emptier streets of Ponyville. It was just as well that the early day hustle had given way to the noon-time slump, as the site of four of Ponyville's most influential denizens under any other circumstance, would have attracted unwanted attention, as well as intolerable delays. Along the way, the other's got Rarity up to speed on all they knew about what had happened, which is to say, little. The four eventually reached Fluttershy's cottage, where Angel was trying in desperation to move a full watering can.

"Angel, do you know, mayhaps, where Fluttershy has fluttered away to today?" Rarity asked. Angel rolled his eyes and nodded, before pointed over his shoulder, to the east. "Now certainly you can be more a tinsy bit descriptive than that." Rarity replied to his pantomiming. Angel proceeded to make a fluttering motion with his hands, followed by once again pointing east.

"You're saying she flew away to the east?"

Angel nodded vigorously, and then went back to trying to move the watering can.

"I don't understand, what reason did Fluttershy have to go off without telling anypony? You- You don't think she went after Rainbow Dash do you!"

The Mayor sat down on a stump and moaned in dejection, "Ooh, this is just awful. Two ponies lost in one day, on _my _record."

"Lost? What makes you think there aren't coming back?" Spike asked.

"Spike... For as much as I'm in the dark, the first thing they let me know was that these Pegasi are not afraid to do things we would consider unthinkable!" The Mayor replied, scared at the thought. "Oh, if only the Princess was more forthcoming with us, we could have prevented this mess!"

"Wait just a minute, the Princess! She was there when all of this went down, she could tell us _everything_." Said Spike

"Yes, she could, but she's kept the very existence of Pegalysium a secret from the general public for over a thousand years, I doubt she'll reveal anymore now..." The Mayor replied sadly.

"Hmm. Given the circumstances, I think it's at least worth a shot, she's the only lead we have, and knowing her. She won't hold on to her secrets when lives are at stake. I'll send a letter write away!" Twilight said, before turning around heading back home with Spike in tow.

"I'll go find Pinkie and Applejack, they deserve to know what's happened as well. Oh, and Mayor, if I may make a suggestion, take a trip down to the spy, they'll be more than able to dispose of those bags coming in under your eyes." Rarity said to the Mayor, displaying perhaps a hint of facetiousness.

"Bag's under my... Well, I can't deny a change for some relaxation. I suppose this to be written letter will have to serve as my declaration of escalation. at least that's what I'll call it." The Mayor stood up and began to walk off, her gait displaying the telltale signs of stress. "_Thirty years of politics just don't prepare you for the inevitable strong arming like you think they will." _She muttered to herself.


	4. High Feather

**Author's Note: Massive revisions for anyone who read before 09/18/12. After a nearly 1 year hiatus, a new chapter will finally come soon, and I'll try and keep up a half decent pace now.**

Fluttershy looked off into the distance, night was setting in and her field of view dwindling. A chill wind rolled in, as always; In a flying city the nights were always comparatively colder than on the surface, even in the summers, as there was little to buffer the wind's path. Her pink mane blew in the wind as her mind trailed off in wonder about her predicament, When Rarity had been captured it had at least been by a bumbling pack of incompetent mutts. These pegasi were more competent, organized, and perfectly willing to... In her mind she couldn't bring the sounds together. That word, that _vile_ word, that sounded more like a groan than anything else. _murder_._  
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In Equestria, death is something the ponies knew little about, rarely contemplated, and almost _never _spoke of. It was something they knew existed, but actively chose not to face, even was it was upon them, and as a side effect, did not accept. But even more intolerable a subject then death was the concept of murder. The entire concept was just repugnant, unthinkable to them. The idea of a pony ending another one's life was... indescribably cruel, something out of a terrible horror story, and it had not happened in Equestrian history, at least, not in _recorded _Equestrian history.

Fluttershy knew that something needed to be done, but lack of confidence and an aura of fear of the unknown clouded her thoughts and made her attempts at rattling her brain for an answer fruitless. In desperation she looked down at the barren landscape below, and then to the spire jutting up out of the landscape and whispered, "Rainbow Dash, _please _let me find you." She fell back, her body strewn across the clouds and her eyelids heavy, and drifted off into sleep.

Some time later she was woken but by something small, like pebbles, falling onto her face. Then, a rumble, and more pebbles. Then another. And another... It was around the third consecutive rumble that Fluttershy mustered up the good sense to move out of the way. She picked up one of the pebbles and found it was somehow tiny crumbles of cloud.

The rumbling seemed to keep coming nearby, it sounded like a blunt instrument striking a wall. Fluttershy hovered along the side of the cloud scape, scanning for the source of the disturbance. Eventually, she came upon what seemed to be a small window in the clouds, barred up for some reason, though it barely looked big enough for a pony to squeeze through. Fluttershy flew up to the little windows and looked through the bars, and her face lit up with surprise. Rainbow Dash, was standing as far from the wall and the cell would allow, and preparing for another go at the wall.

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy squeaked out, happy to see her friend relatively unharmed.

"Wha?' Rainbow Dash looked around the cell, unable to find a body for the voice, Rainbow Dash cynically said, "Oh, good, I'm going crazy, thought it would take longer than a few hours of isolation before I _broke. _Kind of disappointed in myself." Before dropping back into her ready stance.

"Rainbow Dash, up here, it's me!" Fluttershy managed to eek out louder.

"Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash said in abject disbelief, Flying up the bars to meet her friend and banging her head on the ceiling in her enthusiasm. "Ow... How did you get here? Why did you follow me?"

"Fluttershy looked down and said plainly, "I saw someponies carrying you away, I couldn't just let them take you who knows where." Looking into Rainbow Dash's face, Fluttershy noticed that even though she had only been gone for a day, she looked like she hadn't slept in a week.

"And you didn't tell anypony else what was going on first? I- I thought you learned your lesson after what happened with Philamena?" Rainbow Dash said upset at Fluttershy's rash actions.

"There was no time." Fluttershy said in her defense, "If I went for help, they would have been too far away to follow. I'm sorry."

Rainbow Dash face softened up in guilt, "No. No, don't apologize for trying to help... Still, this is arguably both the dumbest and nicest thing you've ever done. Thank you _so _much!"

"You can thank me more when I get you out of there, how am I going to get you out of there?"

"Well, I've been working on this cloud wall, but I don't seem to be getting anywhere with that. They always told me I had a thick skull back in flight school, not thick enough I guess! Haha..." Rainbow Dash chuckled dryly, trying to inject humor into a bad situation, it was all she could do to keep from panicking.

"But you break through clouds for a living, what's so special about these ones?" Fluttershy said, stifling back giggles.

"Hey! This isn't your regular old Ponyville brand cloud, this is... I don't really know what kind of cloud this is, but it's hard! Like, _rock_ hard!" Rainbow Dash shouted indignantly. "Still." Rainbow Dash said as she tapped on the bars blocking the window and guessed they would probably yield easily. "Alright, you pull on these bars, and I'll buck them, together we should be able to knock them out and make me an exit. On three." Fluttershy grabbed the bars as well she could, and Dash prepared for impact. "Just another cloud, just another cloud." She thought. "One. Two. Thr-ree!"

Rainbow Dash's efforts were not greeted by the satisfying 'pop' she was expecting, but rather a loud blunt thud, overlapped by a slight cracking noise. For a brief moment, she just hovered there, her brain trying to catch up, then, fiery pain shot up through her hind hooves. She fell to the floor and groaned. looking at her hooves, beet red clashed with her light blue mane. "How could anything made of cloud be so _tough!" _Rainbow Dash shouted in grating frustration. "Fluttershy? Could you try getting into the spire?"

"I _did. _The gates are closed, and they have guards watching them."

Rainbow Dash thought back hard to her trial, she remembered seeing large open windows above her in the main hall. "Fluttershy, there's another way in, if you fly up you can get in through these big windows."

"Won't they have guards posted there too?"

"Nopony will see ya, besides, who'd they find to be on guard duty _this _late?"

"Alright, I'll do my best."

Rainbow Dash decided against telling Fluttershy about Princess Celestia's failed attempt to spring her out, mostly because it would _not _have helped her confidence any, Trying to think of words of encouragement, she decided against the always popular cliche of, 'you're my only hope.' and simply settled on a, "Good Luck," as Fluttershy flew up toward the Spire.

Rising above the round base of the massive building, Fluttershy did indeed see the windows, tall and wide, like a gaping maw threatening to swallow her up. It appeared deserted, but she still flew in very cautiously, her eyes buzzing around constantly, scanning for the tiniest hint of a threat. A chill ran down her spine as she saw two pegasi, both near the podium, a small torch providing the only source of artificial light in the room. Struggling to keep her nerves steady, she floated to the seats and hunkered down, hoping to remain unseen. She could just barely see what the two pegasi were doing. The one sat on the podium penning away onto a scroll of some sort. The other, clad in armor, stood nearby, doing his best to divide his attention between the scroll and his surroundings. That division of attention is the only reason Fluttershy managed to sneak in.

Stratus looked intently at the windows, "You know, we _really _should commission some glass panes for those windows. Some pony could fly right in."

"Nopony is going to use those windows, besides if they did it'd be the last flight they ever make!" The Head Pegalite said proudly, dismissing Stratus' (founded) suspicions. Fluttershy swallowed hard.

"Could I at least put some guards on them. I feel like we're exposed just leaving them be."

"Fine, if your so hard pressed about it, then shuffle some guards... Take some pegasi of perimeter patrol, it's not like we need to worry about ponies coming _into _the city." The head Pegalite said in the sort of half groaning tone you have when you're exhausted.

"You're simply too lax, sir. It's a changing world we float above and we should remain vigilant." Stratus said still as proper as ever.

At this remark, the Head stopped writing, laid down the quill and looked at Stratus surprised, "Well, that's an unusually progressive viewpoint for you Stratus, what could have sparked it?"

Stratus shrugged and replied, "It had been centuries since we've interacted with the dirt crawlers, all I'm saying is that you can't expect even _them _to not make _some _sort of progress in that time."

The Head went back to writing, "I think you are giving them entirely too much credit, I imagine they still are living the same static existence they were a thousand years ago, and the thousand before _that _too."

A few moments of silence passed, then Stratus spoke up again, "Have you given any though to what Celestia said?"

"What? You mean all that about the ancestors repressing some memories from long ago? Tch, the transparent ploy of a desperate diplomat watching her arguments crumble around her."

Stratus merely uttered a "Hmm" in reply.

"Commander Stratus, I certainly hope that 'hmm' doesn't imply that you're questioning the infallibility of our forefathers? Why, that would be high treason, and even one of _your _post isn't above the law."

"No, No. I have no doubt in our progenitor's honesty, but... She sounded so genuine."

"In her supposed immortality I'm sure she's had centuries to master the fine art of deceit." The Head brought the quill down hard, marking the final period. "Done. hmph, this is a fine quill. Where'd you get these?"

"Some of our men interceded in Equestria and secured a shipment of quills meant for some store, 'Quills and Sofas.' I don't have a clue what a 'sofa' is though... I certainly hope no dirt crawler needed a quill that week..." Stratus replied.

"Regardless, It's a quality quill, they though they may have been a society of earth walking troglodytes, but it can't be said they never provided anything of note. Stratus, be sure to tell one of the scribes to add a footnote somewhere up there about the quality of Equestrian quills, will you?" The Head requested as he placed a seal on the rolled up scroll.

"Very well, Sir. On the morrow I will commission a quote chronicling the credible quality of Equestrian quills..."

The Head Pegalite didn't so much as chuckle at Stratus's alliteration, he just sighed and said, "We've both been awake for far too long, Commander. How about we _finally _turn in for the night."

"Very well, sir. Oh, and if I may, what were you writing on that scroll?" Stratus inquired.

"Nothing, just another edict, a fine night to you, Commander Stratus." The Head Pegalite said as he exited the through the main gate. Stratus stayed behind briefly to blow out the torch, which would have left the room pitch black if not for the moonlight streaming in, and then flew through the gate as well.

Fluttershy allowed herself a moment of relief, cut short as she heard a loud noise. The gate into the room was closing quickly, in a moment she'd be stuck in here with no way of opening from the inside. Losing all abandon, she flew for the dwindling exit, barely clearing it before it slammed shut with a resounding boom. Fluttershy pressed herself up against the roof, waiting for Stratus to move on. Heavy hoof stomps echoes through the empty chamber, growing softer and softer until they barely reached a whisper. Fluttershy took several deep breaths before landing and beginning to look for the path downstairs.

As she walked through round the Spire's entrance, she looked at the walls around her. They were covered in murals of various ages and styles, from traditional to abstract, as well as a few caricatures. Praises of Pegalysium's glory were strewn around them, and oddly enough, a few had been scraped out. One particular mural caught her eye, it was a picture of a large blue orb, shining like the sun, with dozens of clouds were swirling around it; Pegasi in the painting watched in amazement, and there was one other figure, but it had been scraped out, then crudely painted over, making it almost unidentifiable. Fluttershy was so busy looking at the mural she didn't even see the stairs to the prison below, and went tumbling in a heap, bashing her head, back, and legs as she collapsed down the steps.

The softer floor on the bottom provided a tinge of comfort. Fluttershy wasn't usually the clumsy type, but she was so focused on trying to figure out what the smudged figure in the mural was. It appeared to be some kind of white shape, almost mistakable for a cloud, with a protrusion near it's top, maybe a horn? As well as two what appeared to be wings? The only pony with both those features, and that color (that she knew of anyway) was Princess Celestia, and Fluttershy had a hard time believing the Princess had _anything _to do with this place!

Steadying herself, Fluttershy began walking down the long corridor towards Rainbow Dash. The cells were divided up in a honeycomb like fashion, with long hallways leading to even more cells, stretching so far she could barely see the end of them. If the scale from the outside gave any indication, there could be thousands of cells, there were certainly enough Pegasi in the city to fill them all.

Wandering around the cold dripping tunnels, Fluttershy eventually came upon what she imagined to be the Warden's office. Not much of an office though, consisting of little more than a desk and a chair, but also a key-chain hanging oh-so tantalizingly on a small hook on the wall, containing one key oddly enough. It was not a particularly ornate key either, just a simple skeleton key, but what was weird about it was was the edges, instead of being a series of bumps, they were in the shape of a cloud. Seemed fitting enough to Fluttershy, what better to open a cloud door then a cloud key? As she grabbed the key off the hook, she could swear she heard noises in the distance.

Fluttershy tried to work out in her mind exactly where Dash's cell would be. She knew it was on the edge of the cloud structure, but she wasn't sure where that put herself. "The entrance is in the center, so If I go up until I hit a wall, then work my way around, I should find Dash eventually... Wait a minute, Is there no one else down here besides me and her?" Fluttershy thought to herself as she walked. Now that she was paying attention she noticed that, indeed, for all the dozens of cells she was passing, there wasn't a soul to be found in this prison.

As if to answer her thoughts however, she began to hear distant echoes of foreign hoofs, Fluttershy picked up her pace to a trot as the sounds got louder and louder, she spared barely a glance for each of cells and eventually broke out into a run. Unfortunately, she stopped looking where she was going and ran right into the cell Rainbow Dash was in. She got up and rubbed her head, while Dash flew up to the bars, wings fluttering with excitement.

"Fluttershy! You made it! And You found the key?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed happily.

"Mim ot it rie ear." Fluttershy tried to say, muffled by the key-chain she held in her mouth. She dropped into her hooves and made for the lock, then suddenly, she heard voices coming up the hallway, panicking, she hid in one of the corridors.

"Fluttershy? Where are you going? _Flutte-"_ Rainbow Dash quickly sealed her mouth shut at the sight of the two guards responsible for her being here, she wondered what were they doing here so early.

"-_still_ haven't found something to kill her with yet?" Silent Gale asked slightly aghast.

"Nope. Hopefully they'll find something soon." Solar Wind replied.

"They'd better, I've lost track of how long it's been! Months at least. The crowds are getting awful testy."

"She won't last long, they stopped feeding her weeks ago. She'll be so weak that eventually a butterfly'll be able to do her in."

"Why don't they just let her dehydrate?"

"The crowds would _hate _that. No. After all she's survived they want to watch and savor her being torn limb from limb."

The two pegasi walked up to Rainbow Dash's cell unfazed, and maybe a little amused as she shot them a death stare. "Well, you're still here? I'm actually a little surprised." Solar Wind said.

"What are you two doing here so early? It's not even _close_ to sunup!" Rainbow Dash complained.

"It's a long walk to the edge of Pegalysium, and we're taking the scenic route." Silent Gale replied matter-of-factly.

"Don't I get a last meal?" Rainbow Dash asked, half serious, half sarcastic, she hadn't eaten anything since she was captured. Which begged the question, how did these ponies get food enough to feed an entire city anyway?

"Nope, you get to die hungry, tired, _and _in pain." Silent Gale said surprisingly nonchalantly, given he was about to perform an execution, and a decidedly bloody one at that.

Rainbow Dash was chained down before she a chance to make a break for it, she was led out of her cell and began the long walk to the edge of this city, she did all she could to hold back her screams of frustration. She was _so _close to getting out of her cell. But she was glad Fluttershy didn't try to open it with the guards coming along, she didn't want her dragged into this whole mess. She was doing her best to handle the grisly situation, and managed to hold her composure rather well. Fluttershy though, she was so sensitive, she'd crack like a waterlogged eggshell under this kind of pressure.

Fluttershy was doing her best to follow the guards without being seen or heard. She blamed herself, if only she had been faster, if only she hadn't been distracted, Dash would be free and they could just go home and never think about this awful place ever again. But because of her "dawdling" Dash was on a slow walk toward her demise. There had to be something she could do, If she could just get Dash alone, maybe the key could unlock her harness.

It definitely was a long walk to the edge of the city, the entire place was very much built with its flying denizens in mind. Why this ceremonial edge had to be just so and couldn't be any other ordinary edge Dash didn't know, nor did she very much care, maybe it was just a way for them to draw it out. While the situation looked hopeless, Rainbow Dash refused to give up, the last few months in Ponyville taught things have a bizarre habit of working out in times like this. She would keep her hopes up right until the end, and even then, it's not like she'd have much time to drown in her sorrow anyway.

The two guards did a very poor job masking their anticipation, it'd be more honest to say they didn't try. Occasionally a grin would break out on their faces, or they'd giggle or chuckle. They certainly weren't as disciplined as the guards in Equestria. In fact, at that moment the thing Rainbow Dash wanted more than anything else were some coins, these goons would probably sell out for a free day's lunch! As they walked down the street, the sun slowly but surely began to rise and overtake the sky the entire city looked beautiful bathed in the golden light of dawn, how could ponies this jerkish build something so impressive? She was completely convinced they were not the self made ponies they led on to being.

After walking through the entirety of sunrise, they reached the execution platform. It was a tempered cloud that jut out over the edge of the city, tapering at the end where the unfortunate victim would make their final flight. The whole thing was caked with bloodstains, to the point where if you didn't know what it was for, you think it had simply been painted red to begin with. In the center of the platform were four chain cuffs, similar to the one the guards had to used to secure Rainbow Dash to them, but instead embedded into the platform, their purpose was clear, make sure there is no escape for the Pegalites twisted idea of justice.

Rainbow Dash was secured to the platform, the whole walk over she hadn't said a word, she was bottling up her frustrations, saving it... Solar Wind took a deep breath and slipped out a key, the key to the harness that Dash had been wearing for a cumulative 24 hours and was _sick _of. Despite the fact that they had had her restrained since about two minutes after their meeting her, the two brothers still knew they had a hoof-full on their hands.

The key unlatched the harness with a satisfying click, Rainbow Dash stood motionless. Solar Wind lifted the harness. The moment the fresh air hit Dash's wings they lit up, unfurling and whacking Solar Wind's face with so much force the armored pegasi staggered back and tripped over himself. Rainbow Dash fought against the restraints, buzzing around like a bee in a jar after it been shaken up. Whenever the two guards would try to approach her, she'd dart into them, knocking them back, and more often then not leaving them with a nasty welt.

Silent Gale got tired of being a punching back and drew out a curved blade about a foot long, with a blade dulled bot from use, but by design. His brother saw the fury in his eyes, and rushed to his brother's side, grabbing him by the wing. "Stop, what are you planning to do?" He asked.

"I'm _planning _to lob off her wings and whatever else I want to chop off!"

"You can't do that! We have traditions!" Solar Wind said, desperately trying to talk "sense" into his brother.

"And _I _have welts! Now get off of me." Silent Gale said, knocking back his brother and turning back towards Rainbow Dash still testing the limits of her chains, hoping perhaps to break the things, never really bothering to question if and how exactly clouds could rust.

Fluttershy was watching nearby in shock, it took all of her will to keep from turning away, it seemed the guard was about to brutally murder Rainbow Dash, she focused so intently on the pegasus, and the blade in his hand, she didn't even register as a light yellow flash scanned it's way across her peripheral vision.

Solar Wind, scrambling to his hooves, didn't notice until it was too late, when a light yellow pegasus with a very distinctive wing, delivered a a flying buck with his back hooves straight to his helmeted head, knocking him out cold. A loud clang rang out from the blow, diverting Silent Gale's attention.

"What now?!" He sighed, deeply aggravated and wanting nothing more than to be through with Rainbow Dash. he turned his head back to observe the commotion and was rewarded for his concern with a second another wing smack. But this was different, with Dash the pain came from the shear force of the smack. Here, the pain came from what the wing was made out of. Leather? Or maybe bat hide? And with metal framework of all things? Whatever it was it felt like getting a whip lashed across your face. Disoriented, he dropped the dagger but quickly came to his senses and knocked it away before the unknown pegasus could make use of it.

They both leaped for the weapon, and began wrestling over it. The stranger noticed Fluttershy hiding behind a small mound of cloud and commanded, "You! Get the key, free your friend, it's on the unconscious one'sbody!" Before immediately going back to the struggle. Fluttershy brain processed the order as fast as it could in this commotion, and galloped over to Solar Wind, feeling around his armor, she eventually found a small pocket, in which she could barely feel a small metal object. She grabbed the little thing, and sure enough, there was the key.

Silent Gale saw yet another stranger poking around on his brother's body, or corpse for all he knew, and snorted in rage, he began charging towards Fluttershy shouting, "Get your hooves off my brother, you wor-" His death threat was cut out as the other fighter grabbed his tail with both hooves and yanked bank, knocking the wind out of him and putting him back in a grapple. Fluttershy darted over to Rainbow Dash as fast as she could, and began to undo the metal cuffs. One, _click._ Two, _click. _Three, _click. _Four, _click._

Rainbow Dash was free , and she was boiling mad. The moment she was sure she wasn't being held back. She charged at Silent Gale, who had gained both the blade and broken the grapple, and was now on top his opponent, ready to stab him through the chest. Rainbow Dash smashed forehead first into his back. He was so focused on the matter at hand that he didn't notice, and the two of them tumbled head over tail again and again, until Rainbow Dash came out on top. She put all the frustration she was harboring into one punch, and delivered it squarely into Silent Gale's face. His head fell to the side, his jaw slack, and his eyes went shut.

Rainbow Dash's face was damp with sweat, she took deep, long breaths to keep from hyperventilating. When she felt suitably calm, she looked over to see the yellow pegasus with the fake wing dragging Solar Wind's body towards the edge of the clouds. "Wait!" She cried out. "Wha- What are you doing?"

"I'm getting rid of them... They're out cold, they won't even feel a thing." The pegasus replied, his voice void of concern.

"You can't just kill them." Fluttershy interjected.

"Why not? They were moments away from killing your friend, and _you _for all you know."

Rainbow Dash took her first long look at her incidental rescuer, a light yellow coat with an all white tail and mane, he was a older pony, about the mayor's age, and had the worn face of a hard lived life, stern but not coldly so. What attracted most of her attention however was that his right wing was some kind of prosthetic, attached to a short nub where a wing would normally be. It had a metal frame and was lined with a strange black leather, it was very expertly crafted and seemed to function like the real thing. going so far as being able to retract on cue. His cutie mark was a large eagle feather.

"I. I know, but, but in the end, I guess... They were only doing their jobs." Rainbow Dash replied almost disappointed, as angry as she was with the two guards. She couldn't bring herself to wish death upon them. She didn't even know them, nor did she know the kind of things this city did to ponies.

There was a long silence before the pegasus asked, "Well, lookie here, a Pegalysian with mercy, now I've truly seen everyth-?" He was interrupted as he began to stare deeply into Rainbow Dash's eyes.

"Um? Would ya stop that? that's _really_ creepy..." Rainbow Dash said confused and a little disturbed.

"You... And you friend, you aren't. You aren't from here, are you?"

"Why No, as a matter of fact we're from-" Fluttershy started to say, trotting up to the Rainbow Dash, before being interrupted.

"_Equestria!" _The pegasus said in awe. He quickly looked around before starting to get panicked. "Oh no, No No No. We- We have to get you home, I can't let you stay here."

"How can you tell where we're from, old timer?" Rainbow Dash quipped.

"It's your eyes, that _look._ That look of unspoiled innocence and purity. The youthful gaze of someone who hasn't seen any of the awful things that I, and many ponies unfortunate enough to not dwell within Equestria's border, have. Yes, I've seen that same look in every Equestrian eyes, even the most cynical and embittered."

"You've been to Equestria, when?" Rainbow Dash followed up, The pegasus ignored her and started pacing and talking to himself. "And if an Equestrian is here, and was about to be executed, then that means that... Oh no, this is bad. I have to do something about this." His voice started to become more and more panicked.

"Do something about _what!? _Look, I'm really grateful you saved me, seriously, but you've got to help me out here, 'cause I got nothin'. Dash interjected.

"Must get a message out, I _must. _But I can't now... And I can't trust any of my underlings to do it for me... Maybe."

"Maybe...? Maybe what? Maybe _I _can help you if you tell me what's going on!" Dash shouted, getting agitated.

"Wait, What? You help-? Oh no, _no_. I owe her too much to do that. Well, Hmm, Maybe if I didn't make you do anything that endangered you, but even then I'd need her permission, and by that point you'll already be home..."

"Who are you talking about, who is 'she'?" Fluttershy asked.

"Tell me, Equestrians, Celestia still rules in Equestria, right?" The pegasus answered Fluttershy's question with a question of his own, whilst sounding only half sure of himself, there was a look of desperation in his eyes.

"Well, yeah? Why would it be any different." Rainbow Dash stated matter-of-factly.

_"_Are you friends with the Princess, sir?" Fluttershy added.

The pegasus sighed with relief, "Yes, and old friend, relatively speaking that is. Listen to me, I need you to go home, and tell the Princess I'm _not _dead. Then, as much as it pains me to ask, Tell her that I request her permission to use the both of you as a part of my plans. Please remember though that you shouldn't feel _any_ pressure, If you decide to return, your lives _will _be in constant danger."

"What? You don't think that I can handle it?" Rainbow Dash said smugly.

"Well, I'm simply suggesting you put serious thought into whether or not you truly wish to return her, you _were_ nearly killed, remember." The Pegasus replied.

"Hey, hey, hey. _That's _just because they caught me off guard, m'kay? I have razor sharp perception, and I will _not _surprised again!" Rainbow Dash insisted.

"I see." The Pegasus said flatly.

"Maybe, we should take his advice, Rainbow Dash, I don't really want to come back, and It's so close to harvest time, I really should be tending the garden, Angel is hardly qualified to-" Fluttershy started to ramble before Dash put her hoof over Fluttershy's mouth, interrupting her.

"Yeah, Yeah. You go ahead and sit this one out, Fluttershy, _I've _got this taken care of, just like I took care of that **dragon **back in Ponyville." Rainbow Dash bragged, putting poorly veiled emphasis on the word "dragon."

"A dragon, Eh?" The pegasi chuckled. "Well, if you took on a dragon, than a battalion of twenty armored, war-trained pegasi should be barely a warm up."

"You're darn right it's a... Wait a minute, you're being sarcastic, Do you know my friend Twilight? She's always using that on me!"

The pegasi laughed, than replied. "High Feather."

"What?" Rainbow Dash muttered.

"My name, It's High Feather. For when you deliver my message to the princess? Which you really should be doing. Right now. We can talk more when we meet again- _if _we meet again." High Feather said as he signalled to two towards Equestria.

"Wait, How will we find you if we come back?" Fluttershy asked.

"Just keep a low profile, and don't worry, you _won't _find me, _I'll _find _you."_ High Feather said slyly.

With the final nod, the two pegasi began the flight back home to Equestria. Both understandably perplexed on who exactly this High Feather was, and what kind of connection he could have had with the Princess. The sun was warm and inviting, like the Princess herself, as the two set a course for Equestria, The far off tips of Canterlot Castle as their compass.


End file.
